Mahendra Singh Dhoni Retires from Test Cricket

MS Dhoni has retired from Test cricket with immediate effect following the drawn Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Virat Kohli will take over as India captain for the final Test of the series, which India has already lost, in Sydney. Kohli had led in the first Test when Dhoni preferred to rest his injured right hand.

The announcement was made via a BCCI press release shortly after and it cited “the strain of playing all formats” as the reason.

“One of India’s greatest Test captains under whose leadership India became the No. 1 team in the test rankings, MS Dhoni, has decided to retire from Test cricket citing the strain of playing all formats of cricket,” the board said. “BCCI, while respecting the decision of MS Dhoni to retire from Test cricket, wishes to thank him for his enormous contribution to Test cricket and the laurels that he has brought to India. Virat Kohli will be the captain of the Indian team for the fourth and final Test against Australia to be played in Sydney.”

Dhoni has chosen to retire from Tests with immediate effect in order to concentrate on ODIs and T20 formats.

Dhoni bowed out of Test cricket in style. In his final series in Australia, Dhoni became the first Indian wicketkeeper to effect nine dismissals in a Test match in Melbourne.

With the bat, Dhoni also became the first Indian batsman to complete 10,000 runs or more as captain in international cricket, joining Ricky Ponting (15440), Graeme Smith (14878), Stephen Fleming (11561) and Allan Border (11062).